Rest Easy, Palm Beach, You're Not Running Out of Idiots

By Alan Caruba

The good citizens of Palm Beach County, Florida, may go to sleep tonight, assured that the supply of local idiots remains sufficient to try to deprive them of the electricity they require.

“Everglades Earth First!” informed me today that “dozens of concerned community members from Palm Beach County and all over the nation put their bodies on the line to halt construction of FPL’s (Florida Power and Light) West County Energy Center demanding energy efficiency, truly clean, renewable energy and a moratorium on development in south Florida.”

The facility under construction is a 3800-megawatt gas-fired power plant that the Earth First folks claim would “emit 12 million tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide), a leading greenhouse gas, every year.”

What they chose to ignore is that it would also provide much-needed power for the residents of south Florida it is intended to serve. You know, people who want to turn on the lights, watch their television, run their washers and dryers, use their computers, keep the refrigerator going, use their air conditioning units, and sundry other things people tend to do with electricity.

People in south Florida know what it’s like to be without electricity. It happens all too regularly when a really big hurricane occurs. Having lived in Miami in the past, I can assure you that life without electricity in Florida is no fun. Indeed, when it fails where I currently reside, it is not fun.

“A dozen activists locked themselves together,” Earth First reported, while “200 supporters rallied around them.” They were upset that the constant legal challenges from the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition did not stop Florida Power and Light from providing cheap and abundant energy to current and future residents.

These loonies should have tried to block the many people crossing the Florida border intent on living there. I mean, really, who would want to live in a place where there’s abundant sunshine all year long, lots of beachfront property, lakes, great fishing, some really great theme parks, and similar attractions?

The main complaint seems to be that the plant is rising across from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, as if this means that the insects, birds, animals and various reptiles were in dire danger. They’re not. The other complaint about the amount of CO2 that would be emitted is a crock. The Earth’s atmosphere contains about 0.038% CO2, an amount so minimal as to represent no significance whatever.

On the other hand, CO2 is absolutely vital for the growth of every single piece of vegetation in Palm Beach County and the Earth!

And, finally, the Earth has warmed about one degree Fahrenheit since 1850 at the end of the last mini-ice age. One degree! Without that warming, there would still be a mini-ice age and a lot more people would be headed for Florida!